A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Nine

Day Nine

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXXII World Day of Prayer for Vocations

“Duc in altum!” The command of Christ is particularly relevant in our time, when there is a widespread mentality which, in the face of difficulties, favors personal non-commitment. The first condition for “putting into the deep” is to cultivate a deep spirit of prayer nourished by a daily listening to the Word of God. The authenticity of the Christian life is measured by the depth of one’s prayer, an art that must be humbly learnt “from the lips of the Divine Master,” almost imploring “like the first disciples: ‘Lord, teach us to pray!’(Lk11:1). In prayer, a conversation with Christ develops and it makes us His intimate friends: ‘Abide in Me and I in you’(Jn15:4)”(Novo millennio ineunte, 32).
Dear adolescents and young people, it is you in a particular way that I renew the invitation of Christ to “put out into the deep.” You find yourselves having to make important decisions for your future. I still hold in my heart the memory of the many opportunities I have had over the years to meet with young people, who have now become adults, some of them your own parents perhaps, or priests or religious, your teachers in the faith. I saw them, happy as young people should be, but also thoughtful, because they were conscious of a desire to give full ‘meaning’ to their lives. I came to recognize more and more how strong is the attraction in young people to the values of the spirit, and how sincere is their desire for holiness. Young people need Christ, but they also know that Christ chose to be in need of them.
Dear young men and women! Trust Christ: listen attentively to His teachings, fix your eyes on His face, persevere in listening to His Word. Allow Him to focus your search and your aspirations, all your ideals and the desires of your heart.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Jesus, Son of God,
in whom the fullness of the Divinity dwells,
You call all baptized to “put out into the deep,”
taking the path that leads to holiness.
Waken in the hearts of young people the desire
to be witnesses in the world today
to the power of Your love.
Fill them with Your Spirit of fortitude and prudence,
so that they maybe able to discover the full truth
about themselves and their own vocation. Amen

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Eight

Day Eight

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXXI World Day of Prayer for Vocations

May all Christian communities become “authentic schools of prayer”, where one prays that laborers may not be lacking in the vast field of apostolic work. It then becomes necessary that the Church accompany with constant spiritual attention those whom God has called and who “follow the Lamb wherever He goes”(Rv14:4): I refer to priests, religious, hermits, consecrated virgins, members of secular institutes - in short, all those who have received the gift of vocation and carry “this treasure in earthen vessels(IICor4:7). In the Mystical Body of Christ there is a wide variety of ministries and charisms, all of them meant for the sanctification of the Christian people. In the reciprocal attention for holiness, which must animate every member of the Church, it is necessary to pray so that those “called” remain faithful to their vocation and reach the highest possible degree of evangelical perfection.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
We pray to You, Jesus,
for our brothers and sisters who have
answered “yes” to Your call to the priesthood,
to the consecrated life and to the missions.
May their lives be renewed each day by
day, to become a living Gospel.
Merciful and holy Lord,
continue to send new laborers
into the harvest of Your Kingdom!
Assist those whom You call
to follow You in our day;
contemplating Your face,
may they respond with joy
to the wondrous mission
that You entrust to them
for the good of Your People
and of all men and women.
You who are God and live and reign
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
for ever and ever. Amen.

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Seven

Day Seven

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXX World Day of Prayer for Vocations

“...even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve”(Mt 20:28). In truth, Jesus is the perfect model of the “servant” of whom Scripture speaks. He is the one who radically emptied Himself to take on “the form of a servant”(Phil 2:7) and to dedicate Himself totally to the things of the Father, as the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased. Jesus did not come to be served, “but to serve, and to give His life as ransom for many”(Mt 20:28). He washed the feet of His disciples and obeyed the plan of the Father even unto death, death on a cross. Therefore, the Father Himself has exalted Him, giving Him a new name and making Him Lord of heaven and of earth. How can one not read in the story of the “servant Jesus” the story of every vocation: the story that the Creator has planned for every human being, the story that inevitably passes through the call to serve and culminates in the discovery of the new name, designed by God for each individual? In these “names,” people can grasp their own identity, directing themselves to that self-fulfillment which makes them free and happy. In particular, how can one not read in the parable of the Son, Servant and Lord, the vocational story of the person who is called by Jesus to follow Him more closely: that is, to be servant in the priestly ministry or in religious consecration? In fact, the priestly vocation or the religious vocation are always, by their very nature, vocations to the generous service of God and neighbor.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Mary, humble servant of God Most High,
the Son to whom you gave birth
has made you the servant of humanity.
Your life was a humble and generous service.
You were servant of the Word when the angel
announced to you the divine plan of salvation.
You were servant of the Son, giving Him life
and remaining open to the mystery.
You were servant of Redemption,
standing courageously at the foot of the Cross,
close to the Suffering Servant and Lamb,
who was sacrificing Himself for love of us.
You were servant of the Church on the day of Pentecost
and with your intercession
you continue to generate Her in every believer,
even in our difficult and troubled times.
Let young people of the third millennium
look to you, young daughter of Israel,
who have known the agitation of a young heart
when faced with the plan of the Eternal God.
Make them able to accept the invitation of Your Son
to give their lives wholly for the glory of God.
Make them understand that to serve God satisfies the heart,
and that only in service of God and of His kingdom
do we realize ourselves in accordance with the divine plan,
and life becomes a hymn of glory to the most Holy Trinity. Amen.

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Six

Day Six

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXIX World Day of Prayer for Vocations

The Church is the “home of holiness” and the charity of Christ, poured out by the Holy Spirit, is her soul. In her, all Christians help one another to discover and fulfil their own vocation by listening to the Word of God, in prayer, by assiduously participating in the Sacraments and incessantly seeking the face of Christ in every brother and sister. In this way each person, according to each one’s gifts, advances along the path of faith, keeping hope alive and acting through charity, while the Church “reveals and experiences anew the infinite richness of the mystery of Jesus Christ”(Christifideles laici, 55) and assures that the holiness of God is manifested within each state and situation of life, so that all Christian may become laborers in the vineyard of the Lord and build up the Body of Christ. Every vocation in the Church is at the service of holiness. Some however, such as the vocations to ordained ministry and consecrated life, are at the service of holiness in a thoroughly unique manner. It is these vocations that I invite everyone to pay particular attention today, by intensifying their prayers for them.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Holy Father, look upon this humanity of ours,
that is taking its first steps along
the path of the Third Millennium.
Its life is still deeply marked by
hatred, violence, and oppression,
but the thirst for justice, truth and grace
still finds a space in the hearts of many people,
who are waiting for someone to bring salvation,
enacted by You through Your Son Jesus.
There is the need for courageous heralds of the Gospel,
for generous servants of suffering humanity.
Send holy priests to Your Church, we pray,
who may sanctify Your people
with tools of Your grace.
Send numerous consecrated men and women,
that they may show Your holiness in the midst of the world.
Send holy laborers into Your vineyard,
that they may labor with the fervor of charity
and, moved by Your Holy Spirit,
may bring the salvation of Christ
to the farthest ends of the earth. Amen

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Five

Day Five

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXVIII World Day of Prayer for Vocations

In their encounter with the Eucharist, some men discover that they are called to become ministers of the Altar, other people, that they are called to contemplate the beauty and depth of this mystery, others that they are called to pour out again its impelling force of love on the poor and weak, and others again that they are called to grasp its transforming power in the realities and gestures of everyday life. Each believer finds in the Eucharist not only the interpretative key of his or her own existence, but the courage to actualize it, indeed to build up, in the diversity of charisms and vocations, the Body of Christ in history. In the account of the disciples of Emmaus(Lk 24,13-35), Saint Luke lets us glimpse what happens in the life of the person who lives in the Eucharist. When “in the breaking of the bread,” done by the “stranger,” the eyes of the disciples are opened, they realize that their hearts were burning in their breasts while they were listening to Him explaining the Scriptures. In those hearts that burn we can see history and the discovery of every vocation, which is not a transient emotion, but an ever more certain and strong recognition that the Eucharist and Passover of the Son must become ever more the Eucharist and Passover of His disciples.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Holy Mary, Mother of all who are called,
make all believers have the strength
to answer the divine call with generous courage,
and let them be joyful witnesses of love toward God
and their neighbor.
Young daughter of Zion, Star of the morning,
who guides the steps of humanity
through the Great Jubilee toward the future,
direct the young people of the new millennium
toward Him who is “the true light
which enlightens all men.”(Jn1,9) Amen.

A novena inspired from Pope John Paul II - Day Four

Day Four

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
from the XXXVI World Day of Prayer for Vocations

The vocation to be “holy, as he is holy”(Lev.11,44) is brought about when God is given the place which is His due. In our time, which is secularized yet also fascinated by the search for the sacred, there is a particular need of saints who, by living intensely the primacy of God in their lives, make visible His loving and provident presence. Holiness, a gift to be constantly requested, constitutes the most precious and effective response to the modern world’s hunger for hope and life. Humanity needs holy priests and consecrated souls who live out daily the total gift of self to God and neighbor; of fathers and mothers who can give witness within the home to the grace of the sacrament of matrimony, reawakening in all those with whom they come into contact the wish to carry out the Creator’s plan for the family; of young people who have personally discovered Christ and have been so attracted by Him as to move their contemporaries to the cause of the Gospel.

We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.

Pause for a moment to ask for Pope John Paul’s intercession.

Please pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be.

Prayer
Holy Father,
You call us to be holy
as You are holy.
We pray You, never allow Your Church
to lack holy ministers and apostles
who, with the Word and the Sacraments,
may open the way to the encounter with You.
Merciful Father,
give to lost humanity
men and women who,
through the witness of a life transfigured
to the image of Your Son,
may walk joyfully
with their other brothers and sisters
towards our heavenly homeland. Amen.